Diablo 3 Beta NDA

Sounds like there won’t be any. For those unfamiliar with the term, NDA stands for Non-Disclosure Agreement. NDAs are usually enforced during beta testing, as Blizzard does not want unofficial announcements made, or testing information (buggy game mechanics, etc) leaked to the public. Beta testers are typically sworn to secrecy during this phase, and may only report bugs, problems, etc., directly to Blizzard personnel only.

However… a comment was made in the Battle.net forums indicating that the NDA for Diablo 3, along with future Blizzard titles, will no longer be enforced. This is exciting news for beta and non-beta testers alike, as it will allow those inside the circle to share information with those who are not. Since beta testing only involves a very, very small test group, not having an NDA for Diablo 3 will allow the entire community to share information and weigh in with their opinions.

Quote from Bashiok

I don’t believe we’re planning to impose NDA’s on future beta tests for any of our franchises. That’s of course subject to change. (Source)

I imagine this will also enable beta testers to share all sorts of gameplay video through online channels such as YouTube.

On one hand, it will be nice to have access to a wellspring of information come beta time, especially since a lot of the info up until this point has been very shrouded and fed to fans piece meal. On the other hand, it will require some tester and reader responsibility to refrain from reporting misinformation based upon opinion, rather than fact.

My guess is that Diablo 3 will require very little in the way of fixes and so forth once it hits the beta stage. Blizzard will probably have it dialed in by the time invites start going out. FFS… they’ve been working on it long enough.